OPINION
Recruiters looking in the wrong place for a few good men
It seems that I have friends in
high placos, and they want
me to know it.
My local Portland-area mili
tary recruiters are trying like
crazy to turn me into a soldier
Unfortunately for them,
they're not having a lot of suc
cess.
I'm not exactly what the mili
tary is looking for. A self
avowed liberal with definite
pacifist tendencies, the army
doesn't expect me to go take out
Saddam Hussein or nuke the
former Soviet Union, does it7
1 have never expressed any
sort of interest in the military
that should define me as any
sort of potential soldier to the
armed forces And I would cer
tainly not use the military -is a
wav to pnv off mv debt at Ore
gon Hall, either
In fat t. I find it wrong that the
military uses money for college
education as bait in return for a
commitment to participate in
various acts of murder and may -
hem (which is the purpose of
the military). I'd rather work
about a dozen part-time jobs
before I would enter the mili
tary
Of course, the recruiters
apparently don't realize this.
They must have rather selective
memories, considering that I
Robbik Rkeyks
have told them a thousand times
that I don't want to hear about
the military anymore and that
their time and resourt.es would
be better spent elsew here, for
example, looking for real jobs
But no. the\ keep calling and
writing It seems the Armv and
Nat \ hove the most interest in
me. judging by the number ol
phone i alls and junk mail they
send me com anting my "oppor
(unities ' in the armed fon es
The calls from the Navy
recruiter are espei tally interest
ing This recruiter must have
sold used cars in a former life.
be< atise be is one of the pushiest
people I have ever talked to.
He called me this summer
(one of about five calls I have
had from him in the past six
months). He apparently got my
phone number from my high
school (an a< t I will never for
give the school for).
After I told him no less than
four limes in one minute that 1
was not interested at all, he
started to tell me nlxmt his expe
riences in the Navy
Following 10 minutes of this
drivel, he asked me what college
I was going to be attending in
the fall After contemplating
lying in order to forever rid
myself of this recruiter. I said
that I would he attending the
University of Oregon
"Oh." he replied knowingly,
"that's m Corvallis, right7"
It makes me wonder where he
went to college
Me then said that he wanted to
ask me a few questions to assess
mv opportunities in the Navy
todnv 1 think 1 stopped him
after the 10th question or so He
wanted to know a tittle more
about me than I thought that he
should (Have you been convii t
ed of anything'* lloyv tail are
you' Mo you use illegal drugs')
Actually, college seems to tie a
major theme among the
brochures that the military has
been sending me Most present
the armed forces as a yvny of
paving for college Even the
recruiters that i all me ask how 1
am paying for college
However, the computer that
sends out the pamphlets to peo
ple must he living in the past
Ins ause it is still sending me the
brochure aimed toward high
school juniors and seniors,
which implore people to start
thinking about college
Believe me. I have
The calls always end when
the recruiters ask "if 1 know any
one who might be interested in
learning about the opportunities
that the Army (Navy, etc ) has?"
I often think about giv ing him
the names and phone numbers
of some people that I really
don't like, but I'm really not that
c ruel The rec ruiters already
waste enough of my tax dollars
sending me junk mail, so I figure
tiles needn't send their mail to
everyone else is well
True some might ask, it does
sound pretty overhearing, but
vvhv don't von just ignore the
mail and hang up on the phone
calls?
Well. I've tried And it hasn't
worked About the only thing
left is .1 restraining order And.
although it would be novel to try
(ever heard of anyone who had a
legal order handing t alls from
the military to their house?), it
probably wouldn't stop them
from i ailing and w rite rig;
The military does have its
place iri society, although in
America we tend to he a little
paranoid hv thinking we must
protect ourselves against every
little country on the planet (sucJi
os Iraq, who apparently threat*
enod George Hush enough that
he had to blow up the country).
1 grudgingly registered for the
Selet tive Service when I turned
1ft several months ago. mostly
Us mix' it's the law. I'm not going
to go to jail for not registering
with the government. I would
rather go to jail for not fighting
for the government. I just don't
believe that it is right to impose
one nation’s views upon another
In killing one other It's kind of
i niiuterprtrductive.
About the only wav that the
military t ould get a hold of me
would lie during a draft Hut don 't
count on me to fight. I'd rather
serve mv i ountrv in some other
[ie.it etui vs a\. fterhaps hv |tnning
the I’»♦<!« e (!orps
Hut the only t (inunction that I
have nith the armed fon es these
days is with mv friendly neigh
borhood military ret miters, and
I would rather keep my contact
w ith them at a minimum
.So. if anyone out there has am
thing to do with the military. pavs
on the message
I'm not interested. Kealiv. Hut
thanks for asking (and asking and
asking )
Hohhip fleeces is (l columnist
for the Kmernld
LETTERS
NEHrly perfect
I want to thank reporter Jim
Davis for his article on our
recent NEH award.
I do want to clarify two
points: These awards are given
on the basis of their academic
strength and cogency. Your
readers need to know that
numerous faculty at the Univer
sity as well as elsewhere con
tributed significantly in creating
these institutions and of course
in serving as the teaching staff
The article may have given the
impression that these are one
person shows, which could not
lie further from the truth
Secondly, at the NKH meet
ings of directors of newly fund
ed projects, last week in Wash
ington, DC . there were throe of
us from Eugene A number ol
people, including several pro
gram officers, noted strong rep
resentation from Eugene and m>
remark to Jim simply reported
those comments 1 did not use
the word "burg to refer to
Kugene. It is not a word in my
vocabulary. 1 simply said for u
small city. Kugeue was well rep
resented It was thus a more a
positive statement than I was
quoted in the article as making.
Otherwise, the article was |»ir
fec.t
David Curland
Foreign Language
Resource Center
Crazed Senator
"Warm kisses and cold show
ers" [ODE, Jan. 7) was typically
written by a man Pack wood
first apologizes for what he did
"under the influence,” then
hai k—pedals and accuses the
women! It is all so embarrassing,
and he ought to quit before it all
gets balled up and crazy
Pat kwood is so taken with
himself and his importance that
he can't possibly have the ener
gy left to represent Oregon ill the
Senate (only big timber that paid
him off}, lie just made a won
derful showing in Oregon by
visiting little mills out in the
bush, speaking to about <i5 to 75
people at a lime but never hav
mg the courage to face a lug
crowd in a big town
He is satisfied He is a inward,
and who needs him' He is a
laughing slot k to Congress who
lost his clout and I deeply resent
having him as my (bandy) elm t
ed representative He is not
helping Oregon but is trying to
hold on for more power and
money. Truly a lost soul'
Hllde K. Cherry
Eugene
Ignore whiners
Have we the students who
faithfully support the athletic
department at the University
been reduced to wearing seat
belts while wati hmg such
events? Spe< ifu allv I was never
more disappointed at the Civil
War game m which the adult
section as well as the so-called
rowdy student sec lion seemed
as solemn as a i bun h choir
Whv should we expect our
teams to show up and piny
when we, the student body, per
mit i omplacency by remaining
seated and producing only
enough noise as which would
compete with a glee i lull/ As
one of the eight rowdy guys that
Dave Charbonnenu desi riIntel in
his article (ODE, Jnn 1H). I was
shocked and confused as to why
we were being reprimanded for
showing our basketball team our
appreciation for a game well
played.
To those of you that our
school spirit annoyed or frus
trated, my right to stand and
cheer for mv team won't l>e vio
lated My adv ii e to you w tuners
is to stay horns m vour arm
chairs to wall h tlm game amt
leave tlif si hoot enthusiasm to
the students who want to get a
little rowdy.
M< Arthur court is known in
the Pot ifii -10 Con fere nci' as one
of the most intimidating arenas
to play in By keeping a few
things in mind, this tradition
i an and will continue indefi
nitely. First, unhuckle those seat
belts, stand up and make some
noise Second, stomp those feet
and let's get those backboards
shaking once again Last, tell
those whiners sitting behind
you to tie part of the solution,
not part of the problem
Jeff Borgnes
Psychology
LETTERS
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